Harrison Foundation Professor of Medicine and Law
Class of 1941 Research Professor of Law
Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences
Director, Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy
Professor of Public Policy, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public PolicyLL.B., University of Virginia School of Law, 1969B.A., Johns Hopkins University, 1966

Richard J. Bonnie is Harrison Foundation Professor of Law and Medicine, Professor of Public Policy, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, and Director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. ­­He teaches and writes about health law and policy, bioethics, criminal law, and public policies relating to mental health, substance abuse, and public health. He has co-authored leading textbooks on criminal law and public health law. His first book, The Marijuana Conviction: A History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States (1974) was republished in 1999 as a “drug policy classic.”

Bonnie has been actively involved in public service throughout his career. Among other positions, he has been Associate Director of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (1971-73); Secretary of the first National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (1975- 80); chair of Virginia’s State Human Rights Committee responsible for protecting rights of persons with mental disabilities (1979-85), and chief advisor for the ABA Criminal Justice­ Mental Health Standards Project (1981-88). He recently chaired a Commission on Mental Health Law Reform at the request of the Chief Justice of Virginia (2006-2011) and is now chairing an expert advisory panel for the Virginia General Assembly’s Study of Mental Health Services in the 21st Century.

Bonnie has ­served as an advisor to the American Psychiatric Association Council on Psychiatry and Law since 1979, received the APA’s Isaac Ray Award in 1998 for contributions to the field of forensic psychiatry, and was awarded special presidential commendations in 2003 and 2016 for his contributions to American psychiatry. He has also served on three MacArthur Foundation research networks -- on Mental Health and the Law (1988-96), Mandated Community Treatment (2000–2010) and Law and Neuroscience (since 2008).

Bonnie was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 1991 and has chaired numerous studies for the National Academies on subjects ranging from elder mistreatment to underage drinking, including the landmark report, Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation (2007). Most recently, he chaired two Academy studies on juvenile justice reform (2013, 2014) as well as related studies on the health and well-being of young adults (2014) and the minimum legal age for access to tobacco (2015). He is currently chairing a study on policies needed to end the opioid epidemic in the United States. He received the Yarmolinsky Medal in 2002 for his contributions to the National Academies. He was elected to the American Law Institute in 2014.

In 2007, Bonnie received the University of Virginia’s highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award.

The Marijuana Conviction: The History of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States (with C.H. Whitebread, II) (Lindesmith Center Drug Policy Classic, 1999), republishing The Marihuana Conviction: The History of Marihuana Prohibition in the United States (University Press of Virginia, 1974).Reducing the Burden of Injury: Advancing Prevention and Treatment (ed. with Carolyn Fulco & Catharyn Liverman) (National Academies Press, 1999).

Work Disability, Mental Disorder and The Law (ed. with John Monahan) (University of Chicago Press, 1997).

Growing Up Tobacco-Free: Preventing Nicotine Dependence in Children and Youths (ed. with B. Lynch) (National Academies Press, 1994).Marijuana Use and Criminal Sanctions: Essays on the Theory and Practice of Decriminalization (Michie/Bobbs-Merrill, 1980).Psychiatrists and the Legal Process: Diagnosis and Debate (ed.) (Harvard Printing Office, 1977).

“Use of Advance Directives by People with Serious Mental Illness Under Virginia’s Health Care Decisions Act: Implementation of a Major Public Health Reform: Project Overview: December 31, 2010,” Dev. Mental Health L., March 2011, at 9.

"The Evolution of the 1992 Law of the Russian Federation on Psychiatric Care" and "Law of the Russian Federation on Psychiatric Care and Guarantees of Citizens Rights in its Provision" (trans.), 27 J. Russian & East European Psychiatry 69 (1994).

"When Push Comes to Shove: Aggressive Community Treatment and The Law" (with J. Berg), in Dennis and John Monahan, eds., Coercion and Aggressive Community Treatment: A New Frontier in Mental Health Law (Plenum, 1996).

"Discouraging the Use of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs: The Effects of Legal Controls and Restrictions," in Mello, ed., Advances in Substance Abuse Research (Vol. II: 145) (JAI Press 1982).

"The Psychiatric Patient's Right to Refuse Medication: A Survey of the Legal Issues," in A.E. Doudera and O.P. Swazey, eds., Refusing Treatment in Mental Health Institutions—Values in Conflict 19 (1982).

"The Uniform Drug Dependence Treatment and Rehabilitation Act and Commentary" (with M.R. Sonnenreich) Appendix (Vol. IV) to Drug Use in America: Problem in Perspective, The Final Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse (1973).

"Remedies for Police Misconduct: The Exclusionary Rule and Other Devices" (with M. Paulsen and C.H. Whitebread, II), in Law and Order Reconsidered. A Staff Report to the President's Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (1969).

Monographs:

The Effects of Alcoholic-Beverage Control Laws (co-author), sponsored and published by Medicine in the Public Interest, Inc. under grant from The National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (1979).